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S. Koreans seek 'Korea first' in new leader

By Reuters

Thursday, May 04, 2017, 18:47By Reuters

The Republic of Korea's presidential candidate Moon Jae-In attends a prayer session marking Buddha's birthday at the Jogye temple in Seoul on May 3, 2017. South Koreans go to the polls on May 9 to choose a successor to disgraced president Park Geun-hye. (Ed Jones / AFP)

SEOUL - Jason Lim, a 36-year-old South Korean engineer living in Washington
DC, thinks it's important to try and maintain a solid alliance with the United
States, but not at any cost.

Lim and many other South Koreans say their country has been reduced to pawns
in a superpower game of chess as the United States and China seek to tackle the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s advancing nuclear and missile
programs.

That frustration - and a growing desire that politicians put "Korea first"-
could drive a near-record number of people to the polls in the May 9 election to
find a successor for former president Park Geun-hye, ousted in March over corruption
charges.

A higher turnout, especially among those in their 20s to 40s who have been
indifferent to politics, is seen boosting liberal candidate Moon Jae-in, who wrote in a book
published in January ROK should learn to say "no to America".

Unless there's a major upset, Moon, who advocates a moderate approach on DPRK
and criticizes conservatives and their hardline policy for failing to stop its
weapons development, will become the next president.

A Gallup Korea poll published on Wednesday shows him with 38 percent support
in the field of 13 candidates, with centrist Ahn Cheol-soo his nearest
challenger at 20 percent.

"Sometimes I feel our government is bending over backwards trying not to
upset the alliance with the United States," said Lim, who is among some 222,000
people who cast their ballots during the April 25-30 voting period for overseas
residents.

"I want our president to be someone who isn't afraid to say what's best for
Korea."

Lim, who did not vote in the 2012 presidential election, blamed the
indifference of younger voters for Park's election victory five years ago that
led to the current political turmoil.

Park was impeached in December on accusations she colluded with a friend to
collect bribes from big conglomerates. The Constitutional Court upheld the
parliamentary motion, making her ROK's first democratically elected president to
be forced out of office.

Park went on trial on criminal charges of corruption on Tuesday and could
face more than 10 years in prison if convicted of receiving bribes.

Geopolitical turmoil is also a major election theme.

Last week, in the middle of the night, the US military installed the Terminal
High-Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), prompting criticism it was trying to
deploy theanti-missile battery before the election.

Park's government agreed to it last year to protect against a DPRK's missile.
Seoul was to provide the land, while the US military would pay for and operate
it.

Liberals criticized Park for not seeking parliamentary approval. Moon says
the next administration should make a final decision on THAAD, and until then,
deployment should be suspended.

China says THAAD's powerful radar could be used to spy into its territory.
While Beijing hasn’t acknowledged retaliating against ROK, it has blocked some
Korean products into the country, discouraged Chinese tourists to ROK and shut
down several Lotte stores in China. The Korean company handed over a golf course
in Seongju, in southeastern ROK, as the THAAD home.

"It is not a new phenomenon ... that ROK is sandwiched by DPRK and the US.
And if you look at (THAAD), it is also not a new thing about us being squeezed
between the US and China," said Chae Karam, a 31-year-old student at the Harvard
Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who voted for the first time in last
week's overseas balloting.

Moon, whose campaign promises include "National Interest First" policy, has
struck a chord with younger Koreans who want the country to stand up to powerful
allies and neighbors.

In addition to putting the THAAD deployment up forparliamentary approval
after the election, Moon has promised to renegotiate the unpopular deal Park’s
government reached with Japan in 2015 on “comfort women,” the Korean women
forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War Two.

But even some of Moon's supporters are sceptical about Seoul's diplomatic
heft.

"It's just a fact. ROK is just stuck in the middle in terms of security
issues, and options are limited for Seoul,"said Choi Jung-hee, a 35-year-old
housewife in Bundang, south of Seoul.

Tuesday's vote may see the highest turnout for a presidential election in
three decades. Nearly 83 percent of 1,500 respondents surveyed by the Elections
Commission said they will definitely vote.

A separate Gallup Korea poll released on Wednesday showed 91 percent of the
1,015 respondents definitely willing to vote.

The biggest increase in willingness to vote came from the age group of 19 to
29 years old, with 92 percent of those respondents saying they firmly planned to
vote, according to Gallup Korea.

Many were mobilized during the massive but peaceful weekend rallies over the
last few months of 2016 demanding Park stepdown.

"It was those who held candles that removed Park from presidency," said Kang
Dong-wan, a political science professorat Dong-A University in Busan said. "I
sense a stronger urge totake part in the election among young people, to make
suresomething like that doesn’t happen again."

Older South Koreans mistrust Moon's less confrontational stance on DPRK, at a
time when Pyongyang is threatening a sixth nuclear test and accelerating
long-range missile tests.

Kim Byung-pil, a taxi driver in Seoul in his 60s, said he will vote for Hong
Joon-pyo, an outspoken former prosecutor and conservative who is pushing a
harder line on Pyongyang.

"We need a strong figure. Look at Trump! He doesn't care what others say,"
Kim said. "We need someone who will be able to push through tough bills and
protect us from DPRK."

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